BBC Radio Merseyside
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Merseyside area (south western Lancashire / north western Cheshire) |
| Frequency | 95.8 MHz, 1485 kHz, DAB |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Local news, sport, talk and music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | BBC Local Radio, BBC North West |
| History | |
First air date | 22 November 1967 |
| Links | |
| Website | BBC Radio Merseyside |
BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC Local Radio service for the Merseyside region, England. It was the third BBC local radio station to start broadcasting, launching on 22 November 1967, serving south west Lancashire.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 288,000 listeners and a 10.4% share as of December 2018.[1]
Technical
BBC Radio Merseyside broadcasts from its studios in Hanover St, Liverpool on 95.8 MHz (Allerton Park), 1485 kHz (Wallasey) and DAB.
The Allerton Park transmitter also transmits Radio City on 96.7 MHz. Both have the same coverage. DAB signals come from the EMAP Digital EMAP Liverpool 11B multiplex] from Billinge Hill (between St Helens and Wigan), Hope Mountain (between Buckley and Wrexham) and Radio City Tower (on top of Radio City's studios).
In late 1981 BBC Radio Merseyside moved from the council-owned offices in Commerce House, Liverpool to a new purpose built studios on Paradise Street, Liverpool. Broadcasts began from the new studios on 7 December 1981, 14 years after the station's inception. On 15 July 2006, BBC Radio Merseyside moved from its former home to a new purpose-built studio building on the corner of Hanover Street and College Lane in Liverpool. This building has three ground-floor studios next to a public performance space. An open learning centre is on the first floor and the main office is on the second floor. It's the third building Radio Merseyside has occupied since it was launched in 1967 from studios on the sixth floor of a council-owned building, Commerce House, in Sir Thomas Street.
In October 2006, the studio building was nominated and made the Building Design shortlist for the inaugural Carbuncle Cup, which was ultimately awarded to Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth.[2]
Programming
Most of BBC Radio Merseyside's programming is produced and broadcast from its Liverpool studios from 5am - 1am on weekdays, 6am - 1am on Saturdays and 5am - 2am on Sundays. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Merseyside simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live overnight.
Specialist programming includes Liverpool's only English-Chinese speaking programming Orient Express with June Yee and Billy Hui (Monday's midnight-1am) and Upfront with Ngunan Adamu (Sunday's 8pm-10pm).
Notable past presenters
- Norman Thomas
- Simon O'Brien
- Shelagh Fogarty (Now at LBC)
- Rob McCaffrey
- Ray Stubbs (Now with BT Sport)
- Eddie Hemmings
- Wayne Clarke
- Janice Long
- Jane Buchanan (Streetlife)
- Roger Hill
- Brian Jacques
- Alan Parry (Now with Sky Sports football commentator)
- Rob Palmer
- Gerry Harrison
- Stephen Parry
- Debi Jones
- Billy Butler (DJ)
Notable presenters
Controversy
During a breakfast show on 25 June 2007, presenter Simon O'Brien accidentally broadcast an unedited interview in which he said, "fuck the government, fuck the planners". O'Brien resigned from the station later in the day. He later went on to present a short-lived Saturday breakfast show on talk radio station City Talk 105.9 in Liverpool. City Talk later used the now infamous phrase that led to his resignation as part of their launch marketing for the station.
References
- ^ "RAJAR". RAJAR. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
- ^ bdonline.co.uk. "Bottom of the barrel - Carbuncles 2006". Retrieved 2014-09-11.